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Archive of "Talks on plan to deal with Aids", The Straits Times, 6 August 1985
=Scan of article & page= =Editable text of article= Talks on plan to deal with Aids By KONG SOOK CHIN HIGH-LEVEL discussions among Health Ministry officials and the Aids Advisory Committee on a comprehensive plan to deal with the disease are expected later this week. It is understood that the plan covers "the total works" - from stepped-up public education on Aids (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) to monitoring and tests for the presence of antibodies to the Aids-related virus, HTLV-III. A source said that a position paper on the plan - which will cover not just this year or the next, but a much longer term - is with Health Ministry headquarters. Health and Finance Minister Dr Richard Hu and the Minister of State (Health and Foreign Affairs), Mr Yeo Cheow Tong, are expected to see the paper before the meeting. The Aids Advisory Committee is made up of government doctors. The plan's strategies will most likely include the training of doctors, nurses and laboratory staff, more public education, and perhaps, even the setting up of more laboratories to do the necessary tests. It is understood that the Elisa test used as a screen for antibodies to the virus is now done manually and the few laboratory technicians doing the test are hard-pressed. Training of more staff The plan Is expected to provide for the training of more staff and even getting equipment which would partially, if not fully, automate such tests. Doctors will, however, still interpret the results. Elisa tests are done at a Pathology Department laboratory in the Singapore General Hospital for the high-risk groups of haemophiliacs, homosexuals and prostitutes. Tests for blood donors are done at a Blood Transfusion Service laboratory in the SGH. The special laboratory for the confirmatory Western Blot test now done overseas is being set up at the SGH’s Pathology Department. An Aids Advisory Committee spokesman expects the laboratory to be operational before the end of the year. The Western Blot test is essentially used to double check the positive results yielded by the Elisa test. This further test is necessary in case the Elisa test results may be false. The plan is subject to fine tuning and changes. It contains a budget but no details are available. Meanwhile, a ministry statement issued last week said that the three confirmed carriers of the virus identified in April are clinically well. The Western Blot test results for another 16 suspected carriers are still not available. =See also= *Archive of "Three in S’pore found with Aids-linked virus", The Straits Times, 10 April 1985 *Archive of "Aids virus: Doctor who 'found it'", The Sunday Times, 14 April 1985 *Archive of "A chance to be ahead in medicine", The Singapore Monitor, 16 April 1985 *Archive of "Aids on ‘must report’ list", The Straits Times, 17 April 1985 *Archive of "Undergrads to be taught about Aids", The Straits Times, 21 April 1885 *Archive of "16 more may be carriers of Aids virus", The Straits Times, 30 April 1985 *Archive of "Aids doctor thanks mum", The Straits Times, 12 May 1985 *Archive of "Special lab to do Aids tests soon", The Straits Times, 18 May 1985 *Archive of "Man with Aids related virus in hospital", The Straits Times, 21 July 1985 *Archive of "Aids carrier leaves hospital", The Straits Times, 28 July 1985 *Archive of "Ministry steps up Aids drive", The Straits Times, 5 September 1985 *Archive of "Singapore ‘first in the world’ to have 100 % screening of donor blood", The Straits Times, 11 September 1985 *Archive of "S’pore-Stanford research tie-up bid", The Straits Times, 10 October 1985 *Archive of "Aids: 20,000 cleared", The Straits Times, 29 November 1985 *Archive of "200 turn up for first public medical convention", The Straits Times, 28 April 1986 *Archive of "Screening tests likely to uncover more Aids carriers", The Straits Times, 1 May 1986 *Archive of "100 people could be Aids carriers here: Expert", The Straits Times, 3 August 1986 *Archive of "Aids claims first victim here", The Straits Times, 11 April 1987 *Archive of "Fear of Aids pushes up condom sales", The Straits Times, 19 April 1987 *Archive of "Govt dental clinics phasing out boiling", The Straits Times, 1 October 1987 *Earliest cases of HIV/AIDS in Singapore *HIV/AIDS in Singapore's LGBT community *Paddy Chew *Avin Tan *Ajmal Khan *Calvin Tan *Adrian Tyler =References= *Kong Sook Chin, "Talks on plan to deal with Aids", The Straits Times, 6 August 1985[]. =Acknowledgements= This article was archived by Roy Tan. Category:Archive of LGBT articles